In either of Canada’s official languages the body English was all there, as prophetic omen, when French Open ingénue and crowd sweetheart Eugenie Bouchard fluffed a wide forehand return that would have brought her to deuce in the fifth game of the semifinal third set. The 20-year-old put up her hand in an exasperated what-the-??? gesture.

Maria Sharapova held her serve, taking a 4-1 lead that — however wonky and vulnerable the veteran’s tennis on this particular day — proved an insurmountable obstacle for the gritty challenger.

Goodness, Bouchard had her chances and they will doubtless haunt, but add to the gaining of wisdom too.

In the end of a two-hour, 27-minute match that was alternately entertaining and oft-sloppy, Sharapova strode long-legged off the red clay court at Roland Garros as 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 survivor, in search Saturday of a second French Open championship in her third straight Paris final.

The Sharapova epoch is far from over, and would not have been if this outcome had turned out differently. Yet the match — the Canadian comer un-awed, the ersatz Russian rebounding from vulnerable to resilient to dominant — provided a harbinger of classic showdowns to come between these two women.

In just two short months, Bouchard has burst open from chrysalis to bright, fluttering monarch — semifinalist at the Australian Open, semifinalist in Paris, and putting quite the scare into a tennis superstar with four Grand Slam titles on her resume.

Bouchard was the mouth that roared this week in Gay Paree: I’m here. I belong. I’m coming for you. And you and you and you — all the world’s elite tennis ladies. Because the sport’s pre-eminent performers are starting to struggle as generational eras segue.

Just a year ago, Sharapova had seen Bouchard off in the second round of this tournament. On Thursday, the Westmount, Que.,-born Bouchard became the youngest Roland Garros semifinalist in five years. What’s increasingly obvious is that Bouchard’s recent tear is no anomaly. Wimbledon and the U.S. Open beckon.

“It was a tough battle, which is what I expected,” Bouchard told reporters, after stalking off the court with a grim expression on her face, knowing better than anybody else how agonizingly close she’d come to knocking off a stunning upset. Because it was there for the taking. “It’s always disappointing to be a little bit off. I felt like I was trying to do what I wanted to do, which was be aggressive, go for my shots. But often I constructed the point well and then didn’t finish it as well as I could.

“I think she kind of elevated her game a little bit later on in the match. I was still trying to do my thing but, yeah, I had a couple chances here and there and just didn’t take my opportunities when I had a few of them.”

They were both pretty in pink and orange, blonde braid versus blonde ponytail. Bouchard actually wears outfits from Sharapova’s signature Nike line, after asking for permission last year. Sharapova, flattered, gave an immediate yes. Yet there was little convivial warmth at the net handshake afterwards. Decidedly cool separation, rather, though 27-year-old Sharapova was generous in her press conference remarks, describing Bouchard’s play as “exceptional.”

Sounded a tad defensive, however, when the questions continued along an eminent changing of the guard theme, Sharapova just managing to slip past a younger version of herself.

“I still have the hunger, even though I’m in a different generation. But, yeah, I think she’s creating situations and putting herself in positions where she can go into a match like today and play freely and loosely and use this experience to her benefit.

“I don’t feel that she has much to lose. She’s been having a great year. She’s improved so much and everything is going on the way up right now.

“In a way, it’s always tougher to play opponents like that . . . They have nothing to lose and you see that in their attitude and their game.”

Bouchard came out confident and poised, forcing seventh-seeded Sharapova into mistakes, finding the lines and angles to break for a 2-1 edge on a forehand winner. Sharapova squared it at 4-4 but then fell apart on double faults — nine of those for her in the match — and poor mobility, as Bouchard had her running around the court, lunging in vain at a powerful backhand. Serving for the set at 5-4, Bouchard recovered from break point with an ooh-triggering long rally that left Sharapova scrambling, ultimately delivering a backhand return wide and not looking at all like the woman who has won six of her last eight titles on clay, the surface she once hated.

They traded breaks in the second but Bouchard then lost a couple of service games she’d led 40-love. The Canadian put the messy 59-minute second set back on serve at 5-5. Then, unleashing all her mighty reservoir of cunning and superior ground strokes, Sharapova held at 6-5 and broke Bouchard at 7-5, crushing the Canadian’s attempted run.

“I thought I was really close to it at the end of the second set,” said the 18th-seeded Bouchard. “But I made too many mistakes on important points and important moments.”

Sharapova: “It was a very tight second set. I had my chances, had some match points. I was happy that I was able to break her and win that set. It was a great game for me.”

She was clearly the more aggressive woman on the court in the third set as Bouchard was rumbled at crucial moments. In the fourth game, the Russian made her defining move, converting a third break point for a 3-1 lead and never looking back. While both displayed moments of brilliance — and ungainliness (83 errors between them in the match) — Bouchard more frequently found herself out of position to return, clunking a volley at 5-2 with Sharapova frozen. In the final game, after saving four match points, Bouchard could only watch helplessly as Sharapova’s return skidded under her racket for the match winner.

The Canadian’s “self-belief” has not been remotely shaken. “I definitely feel like I can play with the best girls in the game. I still have a ways to go but I’m on my way to becoming a better player than I am today, hopefully.

“I feel like, yeah, I’m definitely taking steps in the right direction to become what my dreams and what I want to achieve.”

Sharapova is among the few players on the circuit who never calls the Canadian Genie, as she’s more familiarly known. It’s always Eugenie. That’s probably appropriate as the tennis world will continue to spin this compelling narrative as All About Eugenie — the ambitious young Eve stalking Margo’s diva.

A reporter made the mistake of asking Sharapova what advice she might offer her young rival in taking the next step.

“I’m not a coach. I’m not an adviser. I’m a tennis player. I’m sure she has a lot of people that can help her with that.”

That’s a talon showing.

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